Search Results
Working Paper
Heterogeneous Districts, Interests, and Trade Policy
Congressional districts are political entities with heterogeneous trade policy preferences due to their diverse economic structures. Representation of these interests in Congress is a crucial aspect of trade policymaking that is missing in canonical political economy models of trade. In this paper, we underscore the influence of districts by developing a political economy model of trade with region-specific factors. Using 2002 data from U.S. Congressional Districts, we first characterize the unobserved district-level demand for protection. Extending the model beyond the small country ...
Discussion Paper
Catching Up or Falling Behind? New Jersey Schools in the Aftermath of the Great Recession
Today’s post, which complements Monday’s on New York State and a set of interactive graphics released by the New York Fed earlier, assesses the effect of the Great Recession on educational finances in New Jersey. The Great Recession severely restricted state and local funds, which are the main sources of funding for schools. To help avoid steep budget cuts to schools, the federal government allocated $100 billion for education as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus. The stimulus money was meant to provide temporary relief to ...
Working Paper
District Heterogeneity, Legislative Bargaining, and Trade Policy
The diverse economic structures of Congressional Districts generate heterogeneous trade policy preferences. The crucial role of these district-level interests in determining trade policy in Congress is largely absent from canonical political economy models of trade (e.g. Grossman and Helpman, 1994). We address this gap by modeling the aggregation of district preferences into national trade policy through legislative bargaining. This supply-side explanation of trade policy builds on the legislative bargaining framework of Baron and Ferejohn (1989) and Celik, Karabay and McLaren (2013). The ...